masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgVictory turned into defeat. Another rough outing for Tommy Hunter. A stirring victory denied. A gut punch loss for the Orioles.
Trying to protect a 1-0 lead with two outs and two on in the ninth, Hunter gave up a three-run homer to Miguel Cabrera. Victor Martinez followed with a solo shot as Detroit stunned the Orioles 4-1 tonight at Camden Yards.
The blown save ruined a very strong outing from Ubaldo Jimenez, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Darren O’Day kept Detroit off the board in the…

Victory turned into defeat. Another rough outing for Tommy Hunter. A stirring victory denied. A gut punch loss for the Orioles.

Trying to protect a 1-0 lead with two outs and two on in the ninth, Hunter gave up a three-run homer to Miguel Cabrera. Victor Martinez followed with a solo shot as Detroit stunned the Orioles 4-1 tonight at Camden Yards.

The blown save ruined a very strong outing from Ubaldo Jimenez, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Darren O’Day kept Detroit off the board in the eighth.

Alex Avila singled to lead off the ninth and pinch-runner Rajai Davis stole second. An out call there was overturned on replay. With two outs, Torii Hunter walked to bring up Cabrera. He hit a 1-0 curveball out to left-center for his sixth homer and the 3-1 lead.

Over his last four games in 3 1/3 innings, Hunter has allowed 10 hits and eight runs. This was his third blown save as his ERA increased to 6.60.

Earlier, Jimenez pitched an absolute gem, but he got just one run of support. Jimenez allowed just three singles and no Tigers runner got as far as third base against him. He walked two and fanned seven, throwing 97 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Jimenez has been outstanding in May, pitching to an ERA of 0.46 this month after pitching to an ERA of 6.59 in five April starts. In May, Jimenez has worked 19 2/3 innings, allowing just 13 hits and one run.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead on Adam Jones’ line drive homer into the left field seats off Drew Smyly in the last of the first. It was Jones’ fifth homer of the year and his fourth in the last seven games.

A win would have made this a very uplifting night for catcher Caleb Joseph. He threw out three runners on the bases and came up with his first big league hit, a single to center in the fourth.

But the Orioles fell to 20-17 with their third loss in a row. They have now scored three runs or less in 13 of 18 home games.

In the series finale Wednesday afternoon at 12:35 p.m., right-hander Kevin Gausman makes his O’s season debut against Justin Verlander.